Storage Cabinet-1

Comment

Comment by David Nelson on June 27, 2010 at 3:44pm

Thank you, Donna. It had been a long time since I stained wood, so I learned as I went along. I used water based wood stain from General Finishes. I read that birch can be "blotchy," so I did a pre-seal with one-part shellac to two-parts alcohol to reduce penetration and even out the wood surface. After light sanding I applied the stain using a foam brush, then wiped off the excess with paper towel.

The finish was General Finishes satin ARM-R-SEAL, an oil and urethane compound that sinks into the wood. It goes on very easily with a foam brush and sinks into the wood so there are no brush marks. It takes about three thin coats with very light sanding (#400) between coats to fill up all the pores. The resulting finish is very smooth and looks like it would resist spills and stains pretty well. I have thought about finishing up with paste wax or something, but I'm going to wait until the finish dries very thoroughly before trying that.

One thing I might do differently in the future. The hardest places to get the stain tones even were in the corners. Just doing a test board is lots easier. Since I used no glue, just pocket screws, I could have taken the assembled cabinet apart and stained the individual pieces, then (carefully) reassembled it. (Sort of like an Ikea kit!) I would have had to smooth down and stain the pocket hole plugs, but those are mostly concealed anyway.

This was a project for my wife, and she likes it, so it must have turned out OK. Good luck with your own work.

Comment by Donna Foster on June 27, 2010 at 6:32am

Beautiful work. I love the finish